On October 5, 2016, Sergeant Steve Owen of the Los Angels County Sheriff’s Department was shot after responding to a report of a burglary. The burglar shot the sergeant in the face when he confronted him, then tried to steal the sergeant’s patrol car. A second deputy shot and wounded the suspect who took off on foot and broke into a nearby house with two teenagers, ages 17 and 19, inside. The SWAT team soon arrived and rescued the two teens from the home. The suspect then fled to the backyard and was caught after jumping over a fence and taken into custody.

Owen was taken to a nearby hospital where his wife and family arrived shortly before he passed away. Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris, who was at the hospital, said, “We forget how dangerous this job is. Steve was so brave, the Antelope Valley has lost a true hero today.”

Owen served the department for 29 years and had spent the last five years at the Lancaster station. Flags flew at half-staff at the Lancaster sheriff’s station in Owen’s honor on Thursday.